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For those who have actually gone thru an early z-car rear disk brake converstion, which kit is "best?" I'm looking for ease of install, completeness of kit, least amount of modification to kit needed, most hardware provided, e-brake compatability, etc. My plan is to install 2 calipers on each rear wheel, 1 for regular brakes and a second for a hydraulic drifting brake. I expect that I will need to buy 2 kits and have the caliper bracket modified, or a new once made up using one that works as a template. Please tell me your successes and your woes. I'd like to buy a kit and limit fabrication on my end.

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i have had 3. the oe drum brake setup-which [in my opinion] is sufficient for most z's which don't see extended track time. if your doing significant track events [not drags] and are using your brakes beyond upgraded shoes for the drums then you may consider an upgrade.

if you're looking for bling then the silvermine or mml kits are not it-suggest you look at daves stuff at arizona z.

my first upgrade was the 240sx rear caliper kit that modern motorsport offers. i think if i didn't run my z so hard at the track it would have worked ok. but i do.

found that i could not get sufficiently balanced front to rear [not enough rears] evening with no prop valve and more aggresive pads in the rear than front, so i sold it and moved on.

so, now i have the silvermine rear kit. like the mml 240sx they use off the shelf consumables [pads, calipers & rotors] you can source nearly anywhere-great when you want to go to the corner parts store [or at the track and run out of ...]. the sm kit uses a ford mustang rotor [redrilled for 4 lugs in my fitment] and caliper. i can easily adjust bias and my ebrake works [can't get this with the others]. i can also attest to the fact that edan [sm owner] provides top notch customer service and he is EASY to reach, even on weekends! nuff said

i've reconfigured my sm kit [with nigel's help-thanks!] so now i used an aftermarket ebrake cable as well as switched sides with the calipers for easy bleeding. now i love it. the ebrake now holds, even on steep hills!

most importantly, and as john c so poetically illustrates for us-there is NO best for any application here on hbz...

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rally- that looks the same as the motorsport auto kit. Anybody got experience with the motor sport auto "z-store" kit? I'd love somebody to write a camparison article comparing the problems/issues that one has with each of the different calipers: 280zx, maxima, and 240sx. Seems every kit uses one of these as its basis.

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^ This is one of the things I absolutely love about this forum. I have yet to find anyone that is what you might consider "arrogant" or "proud." Some incredible minds that do beyond incredible work but aren't full of themselves.

The question was for Aplyedmind's idea: I am using Toyota 4x4 vented calipers in the rear Just like in the front

I am interested to see how the parking brake set up works if Toyota calipers are used for rear brakes.

If you run the Toyota 4x4 front calipers on the rear you'll either have to run separate parking brake calipers or a line lock to have a parking brake.

To answer the questions about the kit from the guy in Vegas, I have it mounted up now. It uses Maxima calipers and modified brackets, the parking brake cables hook right up to the p-brake acutator on the caliper, no mods required. The only downside to this kit is the calipers have to be mounted on the opposite side of the car they were designed for. This means bleeding them is a "little" more complicated, you have to remove them from the hangers and orient them so the bleeder is higher than the rest of the caliper, once you do that they bleed just fine.

I'm real happy with the setup, ran them at the first auto-x event this last weekend, it's amazing how much of a difference working brakes makes!

Edited May 25, 2011 by wheelman

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Thanks for the LasVegas brake kit supplier-he is 1/2 the price of the others. Will order a pair from him and see how it goes and provde feedback. I suck at bleeding brakes, but I don't understand why the orientation of the caliper matters, so please help me understand, I'm not trying to sound like a smartie...do we force the air out of the system, or does it rise to the top? I've had to bleed brakes lots of times and the only thing that I have really learned is not to have my wife help me, my daughter does MUCH better and doesn't scream, rip my head off, pinch my fingers or squirt brake fluid all over me. i'm thinking of getting a vacuum bleeder, would that make bleeding the maxima-based system easier? From talking to Silvermine, Modern Motorsports, and AZ Z-car, all of those "big" kits require at least a 16 inch wheel to be confident that the calipers will clear, although AZ z-car says a Konig Rewind 15" will clear. I have 3 sets of 15 inch wheels and swap back and forth a lot, so I really can't use a kit that requires a big wheel. The other issue I may face is clearance of the p-brake mechanism and my CV axles.

You want the bleeder nipple higher than the rest of the caliper because air rises in the fluid (to the top) and it's possible, even likely, that a bubble will get stuck in the caliper and be very hard to purge if the nipple isn't the highest point. But you're also forcing the air from all the lines by pushing fluid through them.

i'm thinking of getting a vacuum bleeder, would that make bleeding the maxima-based system easier?

I tried using a vacuum bleeder but found it didn't work very well, ended up using the vacuum reservoir as a catch can for the fluid when I pushed it through the caliper using the brake pedal. Worked much better that way, made flushing the system of the old fluid much more convenient.

The other issue I may face is clearance of the p-brake mechanism and my CV axles.

I'm running 300ZX CV axles and had no clearance issues with the p-brake bracket.